Christmas Crackers
by DrawnToDarkness
Summary: A series of unrelated one-shots, written to prompts/requests sent via PM as a challenge to myself. All Jess/Becker, most of them Christmas-themed.
1. For Finchozombie

Title: Christmas Crackers  
Author: DrawnToDarkness  
Rating: T  
Pairing: Jess/Becker (with hints of Abby/Connor, Matt/Emily in various stories)  
Summary: The first of six stories written as part of a Christmas challenge to myself, answering requests/prompts. Each chapter is a new story, dedicated to the person who requested it.  
Author's Note: My plan was to post one of these a day in the run up to Christmas Day - unfortunately, a lousy case of the flu has put me behind on posting (and behind on writing Milestones II, but thankfully these stories are already written.) Anyway, here's the first two stories.

_For Finchozombie – it may be a little bit different to what you were expecting (I started it originally from Becker's POV, then had to abandon it because it wasn't flowing right and start again from Jess's POV.) Anyway, I hope you're happy with the end result!_

* * *

As soon as the call came over the comms, she immediately saw all of the plans they'd made for Christmas go up in imaginary smoke.

There'd be no cuddling on the sofa in front of the TV on Christmas Eve after they got home from work, no eating too much at his parent's house for dinner before joining the rest of the team for festive drinks on Christmas Day, no lazy day in bed on Boxing Day… Well, maybe they'd still be able to salvage their Boxing Day plans – lazing around in bed was something the medics would probably recommend, wasn't it?

As disappointed as she was, though, the overriding emotion she felt as the conversation continued was relief.

Relief that, given time, he would be okay.

This was to be their first Christmas together as an established couple – last Christmas, she told herself, didn't count even though they had technically been together at that time. They'd had a few dates and shared some very sweet kisses and exchanged Christmas presents but this year was the first they would share as a couple, living together.

Still, there was always next year, she told herself firmly as she left the hub and started to make her way to the medical bay to meet the team as they arrived.

As long as he was okay, they'd always have next year to make everything perfect.

She heard him before she saw him and quickened her pace at the frantic tone of his voice.

"It's okay, Mate, Jess is on her way." Matt, sounding more amused than alarmed, looked up when she pushed open the doors. "See? Told you," he added with a smirk. "She just can't stay away."

"What's going on?" Crossing the room as quickly as the three and a half inch heels she was wearing would let her, Jess's eyes widened at the sight of Becker struggling with both the team leader and two medics.

He was covered in dust and debris, the result of the building he'd been standing in falling down around him after the dinosaur he'd been up against – a Stegosaurus – accidentally knocked down one of the weight bearing columns keeping the ceiling up. There was blood streaming from an open wound on one side of his temple, his brown eyes were wide and agitated, his face pale and left arm hanging at a very awkward angle and still he was managing to put up a damn good fight against the people doing their best to try and treat his injuries.

"Jess." Her name was a hoarse cry. "Need to see her, need to…"

Hating the pain in his voice, Jess hurried towards him. "I'm here, Becker." He didn't stop struggling until she took Matt's place and fastened her hand around his in a tight grip. "Look at me, Hil. I'm right here. It's okay now. You have to sit still and let the medics look at you, okay?"

He shook his head. "No, gotta tell you. Gotta say…" His voice trailed off, beads of sweat breaking out across his brow as he tried to get his left arm to cooperate.

"He's been like this since we got him out," Matt informed her, shaking his head. "It's probably the concussion."

Her concern growing, Jess bit her lip as she looked at her boyfriend. "Becker. Becker, stop. You'll only hurt yourself more."

"Gotta get…" He winced as he jerked his obviously broken arm and fixed pain-dazed eyes onto her. "Right top pocket. Have to…"

At an encouraging nod from Matt, who seemed to be trying and failing to hide a knowing grin, Jess followed his instructions and reached into the top right hand pocket of Becker's Tac Vest. She didn't feel anything at first, then something brushed against her fingers and she managed to hook whatever it was over the tip of one finger and pull it out.

Once it was free, she set the item on the palm of her hand, her brow furrowing as she stared at in incomprehension.

The gold band of the ring glinted. The single solitaire diamond caught the fluorescent lights of the medical bay and sparkled, almost _winked_, up at her.

Her mouth went dry, her eyes wide as she looked from the ring to the man who'd stopped struggling and was now staring at her with such intensity that it took her breath away. "Hil…"

"Was going to ask tonight." His smile was small, apologetic. The look on his eyes was dulled a little by the pain he was obviously experiencing but his gaze never wavered. "Marry me?"

"Really?" It wasn't the yes or no answer typically given by a potential bride-to-be but it was enough make a grin spread across his face and those of their audience and a blush colour Jess's formerly pale cheeks. "I mean, yes! Of course! Like I'd say anything else."

"Well, technically, you did say 'really' first," Matt pointed out with a wide grin.

"Matt." Jess threw him a quick glare. "Shut up or _I'll_ shoot you."

"Yes, Ma'am." Still, the grin only grew wider. "She wasn't like this before you started dating, you know," he said in an aside to Becker, winking when Jess only rolled her eyes.

Turning back to her boyfriend – her _fiancé_, her mind corrected with a girlish squeal she was glad no one could hear – Jess carefully took the ring from her palm and gave it to him, careful to pass it to his right hand. "Aren't you supposed to put it on me?"

Grinning and looking a little dazed, though she thought that was more likely caused by the concussion than anything else, Becker slid the ring onto her finger, his gaze locked with hers the entire time.

Leaning forward, she kissed him softly, keeping it quick. She smiled at the almost downcast expression on his face when she pulled back and rolled her eyes. "Later, when you're not bleeding or about to pass out from having a broken arm."

Reassured, Becker let the medics ease him back against the pillows and sat patiently while they started to do their jobs. He closed his eyes but kept his grip on Jess's hand as they worked, a small smile still lingering on his lips even as they poked and prodded at his injuries.

Jess looked down at the ring on her finger, the smile on her face impossible to get rid of. It might not be the way they'd planned to spend their Christmas Eve, with him being treated in the med bay and her holding vigil at his side but she was content to count her blessings and be happy with the way it was.

* * *

_Merry Christmas! x_


	2. For Katdemon

_For: Katdemon1895_  
_Request: Challenge to write a fairy tale that hasn't been made into a Disney film._  
_  
Author's Note: This was difficult! Very difficult! (Especially if you want it to be semi-serious and not crack!fic.) I went with the Ugly Duckling story, which may not be a fairy tale per se but I hope it's acceptable! :)_

_Merry Christmas, Kat! x_

* * *

She'd spent her childhood trying to live up the Parker family legacy and, somehow, she'd always ended up falling short.

It wasn't that she wasn't clever – she was. She was actually one of the brightest members of the family, finishing her GCSE's when other students her age were only just deliberating over what subjects to study, but that didn't seem to appease her family.

Brains weren't what made the Parker women special; it was their beauty.

Her mother was stunning; it was a simple truth she'd grown up with her whole life. Tall, blond, curved in all the right places… Elizabeth Parker could have been famous for walking the catwalks of the world and gracing the glossy pages of magazines and everyone who met her knew it.

The same could be said for Jess's sister's, too. Both older than her, Isabelle and Katherine were stunning like their mother. They had her height, her slender figure but that, combined with their father's dark eyes and dark hair, made them into exotic beauties rather than the classic English Rose their mother was.

When Jess had been born, everyone had had high expectations for her, too. There'd been a certain excitement when they'd realised she was keeping her mother's baby blue eyes and a high hope that she'd live up to the Parker standard of impossible beauty.

That hope had died when Jess had turned sixteen and simply stopped growing any taller.

At five foot four, she was considered imperfect by her family's standards.

And that, added to her brownish-red hair, a throwback to someone on her late Grandmother's side of the family, meant she broke the mould as far as Parker women went and not, she'd been cruelly reminded all of her life, in a good way.

It wasn't that her parents were mean about it, exactly. She was very much a Daddy's girl at heart and Mr Parker obviously adored his youngest girl. (Probably, Jess thought some days, because she was the only one of his children who'd happily spend time with him rather than waste hours and hours primping in front of the mirror all day.)

Her mother was kind enough, though the way she continually reassured Jess that she had other attractive qualities other than her looks was a bit of a backhanded compliment.

Her sisters… Now, they were cruel and they knew it.

Life was easy for Isabelle and Katherine. They floated through their days getting by on their looks. Even as children, neither had had any aspirations of a career. They'd both been confident that their beauty would win them good, rich husbands just like their mother had done. (They seemed to forget that Elizabeth had worked up until she was married and stopped only to be a full-time parent to her children.)

They made fun of Jess not only for her looks but because she spent so much time with her head in a book or typing away at the computer in their father's home office. She was a bookworm, a swot and, worst of all in their eyes, _ugly._

Now, it wasn't that Jess thought she was entirely unattractive.

She knew her looks were passable. She was short, yes, but she was in proportion. She had a slender waist she knew her sisters, curvy though they were, were more than a little bit envious of even if they'd rather die than admit it. She had curves of her own, soft as they may be, and her eyes, blue like her mothers, were one of her best features.

Her brain, Jess had always told herself firmly, was the other.

Still, she couldn't help feeling as if she always came up short when compared to the other women in her family – no pun intended – so when the day came to finally introduce the man in her life to the other members of her family, Jess was perhaps understandably more than a little nervous.

Her friends didn't understand. She'd tried to explain the situation to Abby and Emily as they'd helped her choose what dress to wear for the occasion but they'd just given her indulgent smiles, told her she was not only gorgeous, she was also an amazing person and that Becker, emotionally stinted man though he was, was absolutely crazy about her.

That part she at least believed; their relationship had shifted from colleagues and maybe friends into something a lot more serious rather quickly after what she was privately calling 'the beetle nightmare'. It seemed that almost losing her had had a profound effect on the fearless Captain and he'd barely let her out of his sight ever since.

(And that was something she was most definitely _not_ complaining about.)

* * *

As the morning in question dawned, Jess woke up slowly, cocooned as normal by the warmth of the man sharing her bed. She opened her eyes, blinked, and remembered what day it was, groaning softly as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Can I call them and say we have to work?"

"No."

"Can I call and say I'm sick?"

"No."

"That you're sick?"

"No."

"That the world's going to end?"

"Jess."

"Wouldn't you rather spend the day alone, just the two of us?" She turned in his arms, opening her eyes to bat her eyelashes at him. "I'd make it worth your while, Captain."

The beginnings of a grin caused the corners of his mouth to twitch but Becker shook his head. "We're going to meet your family, Jess. It's just lunch. What's the worst that could happen?"

She groaned again at his answer and buried her face against his shoulder even as his arms tightened around her and pulled her close. "You just had to say that, didn't you?"

"It'll be fine." He kissed the top of her head, speaking with the true confidence of a man who was perfectly comfortable with who he was.

It was a confidence Jess couldn't help but be jealous of.

* * *

Lunch itself wasn't as horrendous as she'd been anticipating. Her parents were on their best behaviour; her mother was thrilled that her youngest was finally bringing someone home and her father, protective of her though he was, had interrogated Becker for the first ten minutes before giving him an approving look and winking at his daughter to show he accepted her choice.

Her sisters, on the other hand, arriving after lunch were impossible.

Isabelle, the eldest, made a point of sitting next to the handsome Captain on the sofa. She touched his arm every time she spoke to drawn his attention back to her, continuously flipped her hair over her shoulder and laughed hysterically every time he said something as though every word out of his mouth was the world's funniest joke.

Isabelle's own partner went mostly ignored but, as he was busy trying to engage Jess in conversation, he didn't seem to mind.

Knowing Becker as well as she did, Jess could see he was getting a little annoyed by the attention – though whether that was the attention he was getting or the attention she was, she wasn't entirely sure - but he was making the effort to be unfailingly polite.

Katherine's tactic was different but no less irritating.

The middle sister of the trio had decided the best way to steal Becker's affections away from her little sister was to point out all of Jess's flaws, highlighting her baby sister's insecurities and taking great pleasure in making Jess squirm uncomfortably on the sofa beside her boyfriend.

Becker's response was to tighten his grip on Jess's hand and make an extra effort at catching her eye so he could smile reassuringly every so often.

Finally, the visit was over and couple could make their excuses and depart, with Jess all but dragging Becker behind her as she attempted to flee her childhood home.

* * *

That night, standing in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom, Jess stared at her reflection with a critical eye. Engrossed her in studies, she didn't notice Becker enter the room until he appeared behind her in the mirror, his large hands warm on her hips as he drew her back against him.

"Stop it," he told her firmly, nuzzling the side of her neck. "You're looking for things that aren't there."

"I'm too short," Jess argued with a sigh, narrowing her eyes. Still, she tilted her head to one side to allow him better access to her neck. "My eyes are too small, my nose is too pointy and I think Katherine's right, my top lip is thinner than it should be."

"Jessica." With a low growl of what could've been frustration, Becker spun her away from the mirror so she was facing him. "If you were taller, you couldn't wear the shoes you love so much without being too tall. Besides, you're the perfect height for me to do this," he added, lifting her slightly so he could dip his head to kiss her sweetly. "Your eyes are the most amazing shade of blue I've ever seen – and yes, I've met your mother and I'm including her in that. Your nose is cute and perfectly formed," he paused to kiss the tip of it gently, "and your lips are amazingly soft and sweet and kissable."

Kissing her to prove his point, he swept her up into his arms and carried her towards the bed.

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever met," he told her quietly, sometime later after dedicating the best part of an hour to reassuring her that every inch of skin he touched, tasted and kissed was wonderful in his eyes. "And you are perfect for me."

And, for once, Jess believed it was true.

* * *

_Hope it was okay, Kat! x_


	3. For SveaR

_For SveaR, who wanted a story based on or around two lines said in an episode of Primeval New World, which were: "If there is something you wanna do, do it. Not everything waits until tomorrow." Post-ep for 5x06, because that seemed to fit the prompt._

_Merry Christmas, Svea! I hope you like it :) x_

* * *

The investigation into the disappearance of the Kings Cross train – or the Hogwarts Express, as Connor was gleefully calling it – was thankfully resolved quite quickly. There were no fatalities and, other than a few people thinking they'd hallucinated seeing dinosaurs as a result of the concussions they'd gained when the train had been derailed, no one was seriously hurt.

The team returned to the ARC, jubilant but exhausted. Abby and Connor disappeared shortly afterwards, leaving for their flat as soon as they were able so they could celebrate the successful diversion of the end of the world. Becker had a sneaking suspicion there was something else going on, too, but decided not to mention it and wait until they were ready to share.

Matt, a little preoccupied, had been determined to stay for some reason but Emily had somehow convinced him to leave. Becker was positive he didn't want to know exactly how she'd managed to do that but he was quietly pleased the team leader had someone to take care of him in the aftermath of his mission's end.

Pleased, and a little jealous.

Becker chose to have a shower before taking his black box to the hub. He felt dusty and dirty from the long day he'd had. Besides, he was certain Jess would have already gone home so there was no need to hurry to the Ops room to check she was okay.

The memory of her blood stained face and terrified eyes came back to him as he stood underneath the spray of the hot water. Despite the steam swirling comforting around him, Becker had to stiffen his spine against a shudder.

Of all of the creatures he'd come up against in his time at the ARC, the future Predators were the worst. They featured more than any of the others in the nightmares, their snarls and clicks mingling with both his own screams and those he remembered from others on many a restless night. The thought of Jess being practically alone with them, with only an injured Lester and a failing EMD for back up…

Becker swallowed hard and gritted his teeth against the nausea that swept over him.

The fear.

He couldn't lose her like that. Couldn't add her name to the list of people he'd let down.

Not that she'd see it that way, of course. She'd told him more than once, both in words and in the little looks she gave him, that she thought it was stupid of him to hold himself responsible for every death, every failure.

_"You're only one man,"_ she told him once, after a few too many drinks on a rare team night out. _"What makes you think you're capable of saving everyone even when they can't save themselves?"_

It had surprised him at the time, as Jess wasn't known for being particularly bold or outspoken where he was concerned. She usually got tongue-tied and flustered, blushing prettily as she babbled on until someone took pity on her and stopped her. It hadn't escaped his attention that he was the only one who seemed to be able to make her react that way and he wasn't above admitting that he liked it – to himself, at least. To anyone else… no.

The fact that she'd been a little tipsy at the time seemed to have given her the courage to say what she was really thinking and Becker had always wondered what else she might have said if Abby hadn't chosen that moment to interrupt them because Connor had had far too much to drink and she needed Jess's help to get him home.

Shaking himself mentally as the water began to cool, Becker shut off the shower and hurriedly got dressed.

He'd take his black box to the hub and leave it there to charge, then go home and have a couple of beers – not enough to get drunk but hopefully enough to dull the effects of the nightmares he knew he was sure to have.

Not expecting there to be many people about, Becker was surprised when he left the locker room and almost immediately bumped into someone.

Even more so when that person turned out to be Lester.

Still in the blood stained shirt and braces he'd been wearing earlier, Lester looked tired and drawn. Becker could count on one hand the amount of times he'd seen his otherwise impeccable boss look so unkempt: when Professor Cutter had died, when Danny, Connor and Abby had been lost in the past, when Sarah had died and the old ARC had been disassembled.

"Becker." Lester's eyes, though, were still alert as they fixed on Becker's own. "I was hoping I'd see you before I left."

Squaring his shoulders, automatically preparing for the worst, Becker held himself almost at attention. "Is there something I can do for you, Sir?"

"No, no. Relax." Lester rolled his eyes and leaned a little more heavily on the cane he was holding. "It's not work related."

"It's not?" At the surprise he couldn't mask, Becker thought he saw a light flush stain Lester's otherwise pale cheeks but told himself he must be mistaken. "Then what's the problem…?"

"No problem, not exactly." For the first time in Becker's memory, Lester looked almost… embarrassed. "It's about Jess," Lester said after a long, awkward pause. "And you. Specifically, you and Jess."

"Jess?" His voice was pitched a little higher than he was used to hearing it but Lester thankfully chose not to comment. "What about her?"

"She could have died today," his boss said bluntly, his gaze hard and flat as he looked at Becker. There was a flicker of emotion in his eyes, something that hinted at Lester's own feelings for the Field Co-ordinator. While Becker was certain they were entirely different to his own, there was no denying that Jess had somehow rapidly risen through the ranks of Lester's favourite people. "You both could have died today."

Becker fought the urge to run his hand through his hair uncomfortably and settled for shrugging a shoulder instead. "It's part and parcel of the job, Lester. We know the risks."

"You, maybe, but it's twice in as many weeks that we almost lost our Field Co-ordinator." It was a fact, pure and simple, and one neither man was at all pleased with.

"What are you saying, Lester? That you want Jess to leave?"

"Good God, no. Do you know how long it'd take to find someone else as capable as Jess?" Lester's horrified shudder was only partly exaggerated. "What I'm trying to say is… Oh, bugger it. There's a reason I don't interfere in these matters. It's hardly my place to say it..."

"Just say it." Becker's eyes narrowed. "If it involves Jess, I need to know. As Head of Security…"

"Of course. As "Head of Security"," Lester repeated, making inverted speech marks with the hand that wasn't holding his cane. "No one believes that's your only reason for being so concerned about her, Becker. Not even you." His boss took a deep breath, drawing himself up to his full height and met Becker's gaze once more. "I'm tired of watching you dance around one another. If the last few days has taught us anything, it's that not everything waits for tomorrow. For some people, tomorrow doesn't come. If there's something you want to do, Becker, now's the time to do it. Understand?"

He did, though he was too busy staring at Lester in surprise to acknowledge him.

"Well, I've tried. At least I can say that." Taking his silence as disagreement, Lester spun on heel and started walking down the corridor away from the soldier, muttering not-so-quietly to himself as he did. "And I thought waiting for Connor to make a move was bloody painful. Forget predators and dinosaurs, these people are going to be the death of me."

Unsure of how long he stood there staring after his boss, Becker shook his head and resumed his course for the hub.

Had Lester really just told him…? In the hallway of the ARC outside the locker rooms…?

_Really_?

It was flattering in a way, to know he had Lester's approval. Given how fond of Jess the man was, and how protective he could be of those he was fond of… Well, it was almost like having been given permission – blessing, even – from her actual father.

Deciding he had time to think about it – and hoping it'd make more sense after a couple of beers – Becker quickened his pace, eager to get home and put the day behind him.

He stopped short on entering Operations, his mouth growing dry and his heart rate kicking up a notch.

Jess was still there.

Sitting at her chair in front of the ADD, head bent as she either read the file in front of her or dozed in her seat, Jess was the last person he'd expected to see and, he realised with a small sigh as something settled in his chest, the one person he'd really needed to.

Keeping his steps light as he made his way across the room towards her, he noticed she was actually awake as he got closer, just staring blankly at the pieces of paper in front of her.

"Jess?" She jumped at the sound of his voice, her eyes round and impossibly blue against the pallor of her skin. Like Lester, the day had obviously taken its toll on her. "What are you still doing here?"

"I needed… I had to…" She fumbled for an excuse, her shoulders slumping when she couldn't think of one. "I don't want to go home to an empty flat," she admitted quietly, hanging her head almost as if she were ashamed of her confession. "I know it's not exactly busy here but there are people in the building and I can see them on the screens…"

Understanding all too well, Becker moved up to her and let his hand rest on her arm in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. Jess seemed to think it was, as she lifted her head to look at him. "You need to get some rest. Have something to eat, get some sleep."

She opened her mouth as if to deny that she needed it but closed it again and bit her lip, glancing back at the screens. "I'll get something from the canteen later and I'm sure Lester won't mind if I use the guest quarters…"

Knowing that if he left her, she'd spend all night camped out in front of the ADD, Becker shook his head. He reached past her to put the ADD in stand-by mode, knowing that doing so automatically sent details of any anomaly alerts to the phones of the team on nightshift as well as to himself, Matt and Jess, ignoring her small cry of protest as he did so.

"Come on." Sliding the hand still resting on her arm down to her hand, he laced his fingers with hers, ignoring both the surprise on her face and the slight burning he could feel in his ears and gently pulled her to her feet. "I need a lift home anyway since my truck no longer exists," he added when she stared at him curiously. "I was thinking maybe a Chinese takeaway and a couple of drinks might make the day more bearable."

"You… You're asking me to join you?" Jess bit down on her bottom lip, her eyes confused but hopeful as they locked with his. "You don't have to… I mean, I'm sure you're tired and you just want to be alone and that's okay, I can drop you off then come back here or…"

"Jessica." Her full name was the only warning he gave her. Having thought for a while that there was a very effective way to silence her ramblings but never having had the confidence to put it into practise before, Becker tugged her hand, causing her to fall against him. Before she could do more than stare up at him with wide eyes, he leaned down and claimed her mouth with his own.

After only a few seconds, Jess all but melted against him, a sigh escaping her as she lifted the hand that wasn't been held by his up to rest against his chest above his heart.

* * *

The following morning, Lester watched from his office as his Head of Security and Field Co-ordinator arrived together, identical smiles on their faces as they stood by the ADD. He fought to keep a grin off his own face as Becker lingered in the hub, saying something to Jess that made her blush and hit his arm playfully before leaning in and kissing her cheek chastely.

As Becker left for the armoury, he caught Lester's eye through the glass, acknowledging him with a small nod of thanks.

"Good man," Lester muttered, sitting down at his desk. Even the daunting amount of paperwork to review on his desk didn't put a damper on the good mood he could feel beginning to descend. "Always knew he wasn't an idiot."

* * *

End.  
_It wasn't what I'd originally thought of when I read the prompt but I hope you're happy with it regardless :) Merry Christmas! x_


	4. For PrimevalYank

_For PrimevalYank, who requested Becker stranded at Christmas time with no way of getting home and a certain someone coming to his rescue. Hmm, wonder who that could be...! ;)_

_Merry Christmas! x_

* * *

It was bloody typical, that's what it was.

The first year in a long time that he'd decided to go home for the holidays, much to his mother's delight, and bloody snow caused all of the planes to be grounded and trains to be cancelled.

As if that wasn't bad enough, he was stranded at the airport on top of it. There were no taxis, no shuttle buses, no one willing to take the chance and brave the weather outside.

Having looked outside through the terminal window, Becker couldn't blame them. Still, he wasn't looking forward to spending the night at the airport, even if the chairs he'd claimed as his own weren't the most uncomfortable things he'd ever had to sleep on.

He'd made the call he'd been putting off and told his parent's that, despite having had the best of intentions, he wouldn't be making it home again this year. His mother had been disappointed but had been more concerned by the thought of him being stranded at their airport. His father had told him to wait out the weather and then had home – to his flat – and that they'd arrange to have a belated Christmas in the New Year.

His mother had ended the conversation by telling him to stay warm and that had reminded him there was someone else who needed to know about his change in plans.

Well, not _needed_ to but he thought he'd tell her anyway, just so she knew he'd be available between Christmas and New Year to respond to any anomaly alerts that occurred. While Jess was officially on holiday, too, he knew she wouldn't be far away from her laptop complete with its portable ADD programme throughout the festivities.

He started to text her, and then decided to try and call her instead. If nothing else, her voice would be a welcome distraction from his fate at least for a little while.

"Becker? Shouldn't you be on a plane now?"

Smiling in spite of himself, he sat down on one of the chairs next to the window. "Isn't it customary to answer the phone with 'hello', Jessica?"

"Well, yes. Okay. Hello." She sounded flustered and his grin widened at the thought of being able to do that to her even over the telephone. "Now why are you calling when you should be on your way home?"

"Have you looked outside recently?" He continued before she could answer. "All flights are cancelled. I'm not going anywhere."

"Oh, no. That's terrible!" Her tone was sincere and it warmed him to hear it. "Where are you now? Are you on your way back to your flat?"

"Ah, no." He looked out of the window at the still falling snow. "Doesn't look like I'll be going anywhere for the foreseeable future."

"You're stuck at the airport?" She sounded horrified and in the background, he could hear the familiar sound of keys being rapidly pressed on a keyboard. "Hmm. Looks like there's no bus service running for the rest of the night. There's an advisory from the Met Office to stay off the roads until the snow stops so the gritters can get out."

"That's what I've been told." Becker sighed and shook his head. "Anyway, I wasn't calling to complain. I was calling to let you know I'll be available to deal with any alerts we have. Put me on the on-call list, won't you?"

"Hmm." Jess sounded distracted and he wasn't sure she'd heard him. "I can't find a taxi company willing to come to the airport to get you. Not that they'd get through, anyway. Most of the roads are closed..."

"I'll be fine, Jess." He appreciated her concern but didn't want her getting stressed out on his account. "Go and enjoy your Christmas Eve. You're at your parents, yeah?"

There was a pause, so long he thought for a moment that the call had become disconnected. "Not exactly," Jess answered eventually. "My brother got my parents a last minute cruise for Christmas, so they left yesterday."

"So you're spending Christmas with your brother and his family?" He frowned when she hesitated again. "Jessica?"

"Not exactly," she repeated. "They're going to my sister-in-law's parents this year and, well, as much as I love her, I don't really know her family that well so I turned down the invite to join them. It's okay, though. I was just going to catch up on some reading and have a quiet Christmas."

"Alone?" For some reason, the thought of Jess being alone for Christmas was unthinkable. "You should've said something. Abby and Connor..."

"... are going to Connor's parents. Matt and Emily are having a quiet Christmas, just the two of them, and yes, I know they would have invited me but that would've been a bit awkward, don't you think?" She hurried on before he could protest. "It's fine, Becker. It's not the first time. Now, sit tight and let me figure out how to get you out of there. I'll call you back in a few minutes, okay?"

She hung up before he could argue, leaving him staring at the phone with a confused expression on his face.

* * *

When she didn't call back in over an hour, Becker told himself it was nothing to be worried about. Knowing Jess as well as he did – and he did know her well, even if it wasn't as well as he sometimes wished he did – she'd probably gotten engrossed in some sort of technical glitch or, more realistically, was still trying to do the impossible and find someone willing to take on the snow and rescue him from the airport.

As long as she wasn't attempting it herself... The thought of that made him frown and reach for the phone again, as he had done several times over the last hour.

Giving in to the impulse, he pressed the speed dial he associated with Jess and lifted the phone, listening to it ring. When he realised he could hear her ringtone as well as the ringing tone of his phone, his frown deepened and he stood up, searching for her.

Well, not really searching. It wasn't hard to find her in the almost deserted airport, her face flushed and eyes bright as she hurried towards him.

"How did you...?" He shook his head, his frown turning into a scowl. "Of all of the irresponsible, bloody minded..."

"Oh, hush." Jess rolled her eyes, her smile undaunted by the lack of a warm greeting. "Get your bag and hurry up. He's not going to wait all night."

"Who...?" But Jess wasn't listening, turning on her heel and started back in the direction from which she'd come. Having no choice but to follow her, Becker grabbed his back and hurried after her, wondering belatedly if he'd fallen asleep and was merely having a very vivid dream. "Jess, slow down."

"Can't," she called over her shoulder. "He has to get it back before someone notices it's gone."

"Who has to get what back? Jess, you're not making any..." Becker's eyes widened as he followed her outside and saw the 'what' she'd been talking about. "Sense..." he finished belatedly. "How did you get hold of a military issue truck?"

"I called in a few favours." Jess shrugged a shoulder and gave him an impish smile. "Hurry up and get in. Tommy has to drop us off, then get back to the base before he gets into trouble."

"Tommy...?" Wasn't her brother called Thomas...?

As Jess had already climbed into the back of the truck, Becker followed suit and found himself sitting beside Thomas 'Tommy' Parker, big brother of Jess Parker and apparently just as wrapped around her little finger as most of the other men in her life.

"Nice to meet you," Tommy said after a moment of silence, his grin sympathetic as if he recognised the stunned expression on Becker's face. "Doesn't take no for an answer, does she?"

"No." Becker glanced over his shoulder at Jess, who smiled at him innocently as she buckled her seat belt. "You're not going to get into trouble for this, are you?"

Her brother shrugged, his expression momentarily mimicking his sister's. "If I do, I'll blame Jess. My CO has a soft spot for her since she fixed his daughter's computer last year and saved her from having to redo a year's worth of coursework."

"I told you I called in a few favours," Jess spoke up from the back. "But still, we'd better get going, Tommy. Clive might forgive you for this but Anna won't if you get stuck in snow and don't make it back to her parents."

Clive, Becker deducted as the truck started moving, was Tommy's Commanding Officer. Anna, he knew, was Tommy's wife and Jess's sister-in-law.

* * *

The siblings kept up a steady stream of banter as Tommy navigated the heavy duty vehicle through almost empty roads and streets. Becker bit back a grin more than once, relaxing as the realisation that he wasn't going to have to spend the night at the airport sunk in. It was interesting to see Jess with her brother, to listen to her hold her own and realise it was probably the relationship they shared that made it possible for her to stand up for herself against snobby members of the Admiralty.

It was only when Tommy pulled onto Jess's street that he realised no one had asked him for his address – not that Jess would need to, he knew, but he'd expected Tommy to need to know in order to drive him home.

"You can have the spare room," Jess spoke up as if reading his thoughts. "The roads should be clearer tomorrow and they're talking about opening the airports again by midday so you might be able to get a flight home." She blushed a little but held his gaze. "Tommy needs to get the truck back and your flat's on the other side of town so I thought..."

"It's fine, Jess. Certainly beats staying at the airport." He flashed her a quick, grateful grin before glancing almost nervously at her brother. Her big brother, who was watching him intently. Obviously relived, Jess undid her seatbelt and opened the door of the truck. Becker made to follow but was stopped when Tommy cleared his throat. "Ah, thank you, for the lift."

"Anytime. And I probably mean that. I've never been very good at saying no to my sister." Tommy's gaze was speculative. "I'm guessing you might know what that's like?"

Becker shrugged, not knowing how to answer. He saw Jess glance at them through the windscreen and roll her eyes. "She can be stubborn at times."

"She gets that from our mum," Tommy said with a straight face that would've worked if not for the slight twitching of his lips. "Look, we've not got long before she comes back and orders me out of here so I'll make this quick. She's told me a hundred times you're just friends and colleagues and if that's true, then feel free to ignore me but I'm not blind and I'm not stupid. I saw the way she looks at you and I saw the way you look back. Hurt her and you'll have me and a long line of others waiting to hurt you back twice as much."

"I'm not going to hurt her." It was the only thing he could think of to say, knowing that he'd do whatever he could to make sure it was the truth. Hurting Jess, friend or otherwise, was never something he would allow himself to do. "She means too much to do that."

Tommy looked at him for another moment before nodding, apparently satisfied with what he could see on Becker's face. "Good. Now get out of here before she demands to know what we're talking about."

Like a good soldier, Becker followed the order even though he suspected he was of an equal rank if not above Jess's brother. He walked around the truck to find Tommy had rolled down the window and was bidding his sister a Merry Christmas, promising he'd let her know when he got to his in-laws safely.

* * *

They stood on the street outside of Jess's building until her brother was out of sight, before Jess let the way inside, apologising unnecessarily for the mess of her flat. As the place was spotless, Becker thought she was making nervous small talk, a suspicion confirmed when she both asked if he wanted a hot drink and answered for him with the same breath.

Letting his bag drop to the floor, he followed her through to the kitchen and watched as she pottered about, getting two cups down from one of the shelves, filling the kettle with water and fidgeting with the pots labelled 'tea' and 'coffee' as she waited for the water to boil.

"Thank you," he said after a moment of just watching her, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. "I wasn't expecting you to come to my rescue but I appreciate it."

"It wasn't really me." Jess deflected his gratitude with a shrug. "Tommy's really the one who..."

"Jess." Approaching her slowly, giving her time to move away as well as watching for any response that would signal she was uncomfortable with what he was doing, Becker stopped well inside her personal space. "Thank you."

Gazing up at her, her cheeks tinged with pink, she bit her lip endearingly. "You're welcome. I just didn't think it was fair you had to spend Christmas Eve alone at the airport. And I meant it about the flights. I heard it on the news before we left. They're looking to open at least one runway tomorrow so..."

Knowing he wasn't going to be able to leave her to spend Christmas on her own, Becker shook his head. "My parents aren't expecting me anymore. Maybe next year."

"Whether they're expecting you or not, I'm sure they'd be pleased to see you." Jess turned away as the kettle finished boiling, ending the moment. "Speaking of your family, maybe you should call them and let them know you're out of the airport? They're probably worried about you."

With a stifled sigh at the lost opportunity, Becker accepted that she was right and went to call his parents. His mother was relieved, though still disappointed. His father was curious as to how he'd managed the impossible and a remarkably loud silence followed when Becker hesitantly explained Jess's involvement in making the miracle happen.

"Sounds like quite a woman you've got there, son," Mr Becker said eventually. His tone was non-committal but Becker could still hear the speculation. "I'd like to meet her one day."

Glancing over his shoulder as Jess fussed in the kitchen over their already made drinks to give him some privacy, Becker found himself nodding in answer. "Maybe you will."

His father chuckled softly. "Don't think there's any maybe about it, Hilary. I'll let you go. Call your mother tomorrow. She'll want to hear from you even if she can't see you."

They hung up and Jess took it as her cue to enter the room, cups of tea in her hands. Becker took one with a smile of thanks and waited until she sat down before sitting next to her.

"Were you really going to spend Christmas alone?" He asked after several moments of sitting in comfortable silence.

Jess shrugged, staring into her cup. "It's not a big deal, Becker. I've spent Christmas alone before. My parents seem to like travelling this time of year and my brother used to go away a lot. It's fine."

"No, it isn't." Taking in the small but perfectly decorated Christmas Tree and the neatly wrapped presents underneath it, he remembered her enthusiasm for the season as she'd talked to Emily about the traditions that had both existed and been created since Emily's Christmas's back in her own time. "You shouldn't be alone at Christmas."

"A lot of people are," she pointed out quietly.

He let the subject drop, only because he didn't want to push it too far. Jess turned on the TV and they argued light-heartedly about what to watch, settling on an old Christmas film that aired every year but she still insisted was a classic.

At some point during it, Jess fell asleep, her head somehow coming to rest on his shoulder. Becker wasn't about to complain and instead wrapped his arm around her shoulder – to make her more comfortable, of course – and drew the throw that was neatly folded over the sofa on top of them.

It wasn't where he'd planned on spending Christmas Eve but Becker's last thought before following her into slumber was that it still felt remarkably like he'd made it home for Christmas.

* * *

_End_

_Thank you for the reviews as always - hoping to get round to replying eventually but currently using my phone to update so it's rather time consuming! Only two more stories to go, then we're done :) x_


	5. For PrawnCrackers

_For PrawnCrackers, who wanted Jess and Becker needing to keep each other warm while stuck in a cold place. Merry Christmas! Xx_

* * *

The panic room was certainly living up to its name.

Supposedly the safest room in the ARC, the place those trapped inside the building in case of escaped creatures and anomaly incursions, it was doing nothing but inspiring panic in its two occupants as the day turned into night and the temperature dropped even more.

Without even the electricity of the emergency generators to power it, the panic room was pitch black. Without a source of energy, the room was also freezing.

Captain Becker paced the small space, both to keep warm and to walk off the frustration he couldn't help but feel that it was his fault that Jess was stuck inside the room with him.

He'd thought they'd be safe. So had everyone else. Matt, Emily, Abby and Connor had managed to get out of the building after the alarms had gone off and before the lockdown protocol had kicked in, as had everyone else as far as he was aware. He and Jess, the only staff members to be in the control room when it had happened, had had no such luck.

Before the comms had gone down, Matt and Lester had ordered them to get to the panic room – as far away from the creatures currently roaming the hallways of the ARC as they could without leaving the building. Plans were already being put into motion to mount a rescue – both of the trapped pair and the building itself – but Becker couldn't help but think they were going to be too late.

"I'm s-s-sorry," Jess apologised, her teeth chattering as she sat on the bench in the room and tried to rub some warmth into her arms.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Jess." He gave her an incredulous look, running a hand through his hair as he stared at her. "You didn't do this."

No one had, and that was the most frustrating thing of all.

It was sods law that there would be a power cut in the city at the same time the engineers had taken the emergency generators offline for maintenance reasons. They'd had no reason to believe the storm the weather forecasters had predicted would be enough to knock out power to 80% of London – the ARC included.

The security systems in the building had kicked in and used the last of the reserve power to launch the lockdown procedure, supposedly a last-ditch failsafe to ensure that in such an event, the creatures being homed in the menagerie would be kept inside the building and away from the vulnerable public outside.

No one had thought that maybe the creatures would start escaping before the staff had had a chance to – and certainly not that two members of personnel might end up trapped in the building with them.

"But if you hadn't been h-helping me, you wouldn't b-be t-trapped, too." The guilt on her face coupled with the fact her lips were turning an alarming shade of blue made Becker move towards her.

He crouched down at her feet as Jess looked down at her hands. "Jess, it's not your fault we're in here. Really."

"But you..."

"... was helping you because it's my job." He covered her hands in her lap with his, frowning at how cold they felt. "Security issues fall under my responsibilities and upgrading the cameras was my idea, anyway. Besides," he lifted his other hand to her face, forcing her to tilt her head and look up at him. "I'd rather be in here with you than be outside and know you were in here alone."

She tried to smile but couldn't quite make it. Her blue eyes shimmered and filled with a fear he shared but wouldn't let her see. "What if t-they can't g-get to us? They d-don't know how c-cold it is. They'll think we're s-safe."

Giving in to the impulse he'd been fighting, Becker moved to sit on the bench beside her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her against him, rubbing a hand over the cool skin of her arms to try and get the blood circulating again. "We'll be fine," he told her firmly, hoping it wasn't a lie. "They'll come and get us out soon, I promise."

Jess nodded but didn't look convinced. He didn't protest when she leaned into him, her head resting on his shoulder, only tightened his hold on her and sent up a silent prayer that a rescue would come sooner rather than later.

* * *

The one good thing about being so cold was knowing that the creatures roaming the rest of the facility would be feeling it, too. Yes, some of them wouldn't be affected by it – some would probably even benefit, though Becker's mind wasn't working at full capacity and he couldn't quite remember which ones those would be.

That said, the creatures weren't the ones currently trapped in the panic room, which currently resembled a refrigerator rather than the safe haven it was originally designed to be.

After thirty more minutes of feeling Jess tense every so often to try and keep a shiver from working its way down her spine, Becker decided they needed to do something. Being inactive was making him sleepy and he knew that that was a bad idea. As for the woman leaning against him, she was a lot smaller than he was, her body mass meaning that she would no doubt be feeling it far more than he was.

He moved her in his arms easily and the fact she only murmured a protest told him he was right to worry about her. Lifting her so she was sitting on his lap, her back to his chest, Becker wrapped both of his arms around her and shifted on the bench so his legs were either side of hers. There was one benefit to being cold, he thought to himself with a grimace; at least there'd be no awkward moments to deal with due to Jess's very close proximity and his feelings for her.

"Jess?" He tightened his arms and dropped his head, resting his chin on her shoulder as he tried to look at her face. "You've got to stay awake."

"Tired." Her head lolled, her hands covering his where they'd come to rest on her stomach. Her fingers were like blocks of ice and he bit back a curse. "Let me sleep."

"No, sweetheart." The term of endearment slipped out before he could think about it but Jess was thankfully too out of it to notice. "You can't sleep. You've got to stay awake till the others find us."

"You s-stay awake." Jess shifted on his lap, twisting so she could rest her head more comfortably on his shoulder and press the tip of her cold nose against the skin of his neck. "W-wake me when they g-get here."

"Jessica." Resorting to dirty tactics, he pinched her arm lightly and was relieved to be rewarded by a muttered grumble. "Ask me something. Anything. I promise I'll answer honestly."

"A-anything?" She opened her eyes but didn't move her head from his shoulder, staring at him as he gazed down at her. From the way her eyes widened slightly, he knew she hadn't realised how close they'd gotten but was strangely relieved when she made no attempt at changing it. "W-what if it-s c-classified?"

"Then I'll make something up. It'll probably be more interesting, anyway."

She huffed out a breath that tickled his neck and made him momentarily very, very pleased the cold kept his body from responding. "W-why did you join the m-military?"

Surprised that that was her first question, Becker answered without hesitation. "It's a family thing. My grandfather was in the army, so was my father. Made sense for me to follow suit."

"Did you really want to?"

The question, asked so innocently, made him pause. He couldn't remember if anyone – parents included – had ever asked if his decision to enlist had been out of choice or out of obligation. Everyone he'd known while growing up had just assumed it was what he would do and, once he'd gone to Sandhurst and proved he could live up to the Becker family name, everyone else just took it for granted that being a soldier was what he'd been born to do.

"I don't regret it now," he answered eventually, knowing that that, at least, was the truth. If he hadn't joined the army, he wouldn't have been seconded to the ARC and, tragedies and terrifying creatures aside, he couldn't bring himself to regret that decision. One reason was that he felt like he was finally doing something for the greater good and second, well, if he hadn't joined the ARC, he wouldn't have half of the people that mattered to him most in his life.

The woman cradled in his arms, for one.

The woman cradled in his arms, who'd lapsed into silence again while he'd been deliberating his answer.

"Jess. _Jessica_. Wake up!"

Jess groaned and tried to cuddle closer, seeking whatever warmth was available to her, her eyes slipping shut. "You're m-mean."

"You've said that before." His arms tightened reflexively around her as he remembered that he'd been worried about losing her then, too. "How about if I ask the questions? Will you stay awake long enough to answer them?"

"Depends." Her eyelids fluttered as though opening them was a struggle. "W-what do you w-want to k-know?"

What did he want to know? There were so many things he wondered about over the two years they'd known each other but none he could think of to ask. Some were simply things he'd have to do in order to learn the answers to – like how it felt to kiss her, touch her, cherish her the way he'd at some point decided she deserved... Others were questions he didn't feel he had the right to ask her, not as a colleague or friend.

"What did you want to be when you were younger?" It was a standard question, an easy fall back.

Jess was silent for a moment. He watched her face intently, almost waiting for the thoughtful expression to fade from her features and her eyes to slip shut again. He was pleased, then, when she stayed focused and answered. "A dancer. I took b-ballet lessons. I wanted to be a ballet d-dancer."

"Why didn't you?" It wasn't difficult for him to imagine her in the role, not with her being as small and dainty as she was. "What made you change your mind?"

"D-didn't have a c-choice. I broke my ankle when I was eleven. F-fell out of a t-tree trying to prove to my b-brother I could climb j-just as high as he could." The smile on her lips was both sad and affectionate; Becker guessed the affection was for brother and not the accident that ended her alternative career.

"I can't picture you climbing a tree," he said after a moment of trying to do just that, the short skirts and high heels she wore making it an impossible feat. "I can see you being stubborn and trying to prove your brother wrong, though."

"Am not s-stubborn." She pulled one of her hands free from his and tried to hit him but it lacked any real vigour. Her hand stayed where it landed though, against his chest. Becker lifted one of his own to cover it – to keep it warm, of course, not to keep it there. "You – you're stubborn. S-should've left me. Could've m-made it out."

Knowing she was talking about the moment the lockdown procedure had been initiated, he shook his head. He might have made it outside if he'd pushed himself but, fast as she could be, she wouldn't have made it with him and that was unacceptable. Physically, yes, he might've been able to beat the lockdown but in every other way, he never would have been able to.

"I could never leave you, Jess." The simple honesty in his voice was plain to hear. "I will never leave you willingly."

She lifted her head from his shoulder, her eyes suddenly far more alert than they had been. She searched his face, her brow slightly furrowed. After a long moment, she nodded slightly, as if answering a question he hadn't heard be asked.

"C-can I kiss you?" The question made him blink in surprise and he stared at her, unsure if he'd misheard in a cold-induced stupor. "You s-said I c-could ask a-anything," she reminded him when he was silent.

"Jess..." He waited for the little voice at the back of his mind that usually pointed out why getting involved with her was a bad idea. He wasn't sure if it was the cold or the thought that they might not be rescued in time or if he was simply tired of fighting what he was beginning to think might actually be inevitable that caused it to stay silent.

Lifting his hand from hers where it rested on his chest, he traced the line of her cheekbone with the tip of his finger almost reverently before moving his hand to tangle his fingers in her hair.

In the end, he wasn't sure which of them moved first. One moment they'd been staring at each other intently, the next they were kissing. Her lips were soft against his at first, almost hesitant. When he responded, she grew bolder and parted her lips on a sigh, silently inviting him to deepen the kiss.

It was an invite he was only too happy to accept and Becker lost himself to the moment, savouring it despite the circumstances, and wondered why the hell they'd waited so long.

So engrossed were they, they didn't notice the lights flicker on above their heads or hear the telltale beep as the locks were disengaged and the door was opened.

"Ahem." Matt cleared his throat, an eyebrow arching as the couple broke apart to stare at him in surprise. "If this is a bad time, I can come back later...?"

"She needs medical attention." Becker tightened his grip when Jess started to move away, a flush beginning to bring colour to her otherwise pale cheeks. He gritted his teeth against the ache in his limbs and stood up with her still in his arms.

"I didn't think that was medical attention you were giving her." Matt's tone was teasing but his eyes were concerned as he caught sight of Jess's pallor for the first time and the still slightly blue tinge to both of their mouths. "The power's on, the creatures are back in the menagerie. You can both warm up in the med bay. Didn't think it'd get so cold in here," he added, glancing back at the panic room as they made their way out of it.

"You and me both." Glancing down at her to check she was awake, Becker felt his cheeks grow warm when he noticed she was not only awake but watching him closely. "Was anyone hurt?" He asked Matt, reluctantly breaking eye contact with Jess to look where he was walking.

"Nope. Everyone else made it out." Moving ahead of them to press the button to call the lift, Matt hesitated when Becker stepped inside. "I'll make sure there's a medic waiting for you."

"You're not coming with us?" Becker was surprised but not disappointed.

"No. I should make sure everything's up and running. See to the security stuff," the team leader added with a slight smirk. "Since you've got your arms full."

The lift doors closed before Becker could think of an answer. Willing himself not to blush, he looked down at Jess to see the colour rising in her cheeks. "You okay?"

"I'm starting to f-feel better. Still cold." She bit her lip but maintained eye contact. "You can put me down. I can p-probably walk."

"I could." He didn't, though, reluctant to lose that contact with her. "We'll get you checked out, though. Just to be sure."

"Just to be sure," Jess repeated, a small, pleased smile beginning to play on her lips. They stood in silence for several moments as the lift made its way to the right floor. "Becker?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you another question?"

"You just did." He quirked an eyebrow at her, smirking when she only rolled her eyes. "Go for it."

Jess took a deep breath as if stealing herself before speaking again. "Are you going to kiss me again or was that a heat of the moment thing?" He stared at her so long that the lift doors opened before he could answer. He started walking along the corridor towards the medical bay. "It's okay," Jess continued, biting her lip as though it would keep the disappointment from showing in her voice. "It was cold and you weren't thinking straight..."

"Jessica." The exasperation in his voice silenced her. "You asked a question. It's only polite to give me a chance to answer it."

She looked up at him expectantly and he bit the inside of his mouth to keep himself from grinning. He was silent as he continued on his way to the medical bay, pleased that there was no one in sight as they made it to their destination. He sat her down on one of the empty gurneys without a word, resting his hands either side of her on the bed.

Holding her gaze, he leaned in and kissed her softly, pulling back after a few moments to look at her. "Does that answer your question?"

"I'm not sure." She smiled up at him, lifting a hand to grasp the front of his t-shirt. "Maybe you could answer it again?"

He did, briefly, breaking away at the sound of footsteps hurrying towards the room. "Ask me again later," he told her quietly, putting a respectable amount of distance between them as two medics entered the room. "I guarantee the answer will be the same."

* * *

_End. _

_Hope it met your expectations, PC! :)_


	6. For YouHaveLovelyHair

_And our last story is for YouHaveLovelyHair, who requested a Becker style version of 'A Christmas Carol'. I'm surprised at how this one turned out – and how much I really enjoyed writing it, so thank you for the prompt!_

_Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy! x_

* * *

Captain Hilary Becker was not a fan of Christmas.

He didn't see the point in spending money on presents that would be forgotten about within weeks or cluttering up otherwise neat and tidy surfaces with decorations or, really, celebrating a religious holiday that only had real meaning to those of that particular faith.

He hadn't celebrated Christmas since he'd moved out of his parent's house and had no intention of changing that, no matter how hard a certain Field Co-ordinator tried to get him involved in the ARC's festive frivolities.

He refused to partake in the Secret Santa gift exchange Jess and Connor had arranged for the ARC personnel. He volunteered to work on Christmas Day, New Year's Eve _and _New Year's Day.

And that night, when everyone else who worked at the ARC barring the skeleton crew on duty were getting together to celebrate, Becker decided to head straight home after work and clean his prized rifle.

Again.

Even Lester, sarcastic and grumpy as he was usually thought to be, had agreed to go to the party and had not-so-quietly declared that the absent Captain was _"a modern day Scrooge if ever there was one!"_

And there was no denying it.

If there ever was a man who needed a reminder that life was to be lived and Christmas was an ideal time to do so, it was the one and only Captain Hilary Becker...

He woke with a start, hand reaching instinctively for the sidearm he kept in the drawer of his bedside cabinet. Frowning even as his fingers reached the comforting coolness of the metal, Becker sat up in bed and looked around his bedroom, wondering what it was that had caused him to wake.

His stomach gurgled, the sound seemingly too loud in the otherwise quiet room and he groaned softly, blaming the leftover Chinese he'd reheated for his evening meal.

Deciding he was thirsty, Becker replaced the hand gun in its drawer and got out of bed. The smooth wood of the floorboards were cool against his bare feet but he ignored it and padded through his flat toward the kitchen.

Tired and grumpy, he glanced at the clock, surprised that it wasn't yet eleven. The Christmas party, he presumed, would still be in full swing. An image of Jess in a festive outfit, laughing and blushing prettily as his men took it in turns to kiss her under the mistletoe came to him unbidden but he quashed the thought ruthlessly.

What did he care?

Mistletoe was a parasite, Christmas was a once genuine holiday corrupted by the retail industry.

In a few weeks, it'd all be over for another year and he'd be able to get on with his life as normal...

"Is that really what you want?" The Scottish accent was familiar, the voice sounding both amused and pitying. Becker spun around, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there was he stared at the ghost of Nick Cutter. "Your life's not that great, Captain, I hate to be the one to break it to you. Do you really want it to continue the way it is now?"

"You're not here." Becker narrowed his eyes. "I knew I should've thrown out that Chinese."

Cutter shook his head. "I'm here, Becker, to help you see the error of your ways before it's too late."

Becker snorted in disbelief; he couldn't help it. "Don't tell me. You're the ghost of Christmas Past?"

"I'm the ghost of your former boss," Cutter answered with a shrug. "But if it's Christmas Past you want to see, well, who am I to argue?"

As the dead man spoke, a familiar golden light began to fill the small, dark space of his kitchen. Becker made a sound that was definitely _not _a yelp and tried to move away from it to no avail. The light of the anomaly grew, reaching out towards him.

Becker stared at it in horror and sensed more than saw Cutter approach. He felt icy cold hands on his shoulders and then he was falling, tumbling head first into the anomaly.

His last conscious thought for a while was whether or not anyone would know to look for him and if they'd think he'd willingly broken his own rule.

* * *

He was cold and he was wet.

Becker opened his eyes and stared up in confusion at the starry sky above him. He blinked when something fell into his eye, belatedly realising that it was snow.

Just as it was snow that was soaking through the cotton of his pyjama bottoms and t-shirt he'd chosen to sleep in that night.

"I thought you wanted to see Christmas Past?" The Scottish drawl made him sit up, eyes wide as he saw Cutter leaning against the side of a red brick house. "You're not going to see much of it if you just lie there."

Becker frowned, both at the persistent hallucination of the former team leader and at the house he was leaning against. "I've never lived here."

"Oh, you wanted to see _your_ Christmas Past?" Cutter arched an eyebrow but smirked. "Next time, be a little more specific. Come on. We haven't got all night."

Cutter moved to stand beside the front door, giving Becker no choice but to follow. Instead of knocking, the ghost walked through the wooden door with its immaculate blue paint job and festive holly wreath. Running a hand through his sodden hair, Becker glanced around as if to make sure no one was watching and then hesitantly reached out to touch the door.

He wasn't expecting Cutter's face to reappear and made another noise – a yelp, definitely, but a very manly one – before he found his hand being grabbed as he was pulled through the still closed door.

It was as warm inside the house as it had been cold outside of it. Becker followed Cutter along the dimly lit hallway into a room decorated in full Christmas regalia. From the six foot Christmas Tree with its sparkling lights and combination of old and new baubles and the neatly wrapped presents underneath it to the stockings hanging over the fireplace where an open fire blazed merrily, the living room was a perfect image of Christmas.

What wasn't so perfect was the woman sitting on the sofa opposite the fire, a tartan blanket around her as she stared into the flames. Pale and thin, her facial features were gaunt but still somehow familiar, as if he'd seen her somewhere before...

As he stared at the woman and tried to connect the dots, a brilliant smile lit up her face as a little girl raced into the room.

It was the smile that made him realise how he recognised her and his eyes widened as he turned to Cutter. "I thought you said this was Christmas Past?"

The Professor inclined his head. "It is."

"Then why does Jess look so old?" Becker asked, glancing back to the woman as the little girl carefully climbed onto the sofa beside her and balanced a plate of biscuits on her lap.

"That's not Jess, Becker. That's her mother." Cutter moved to stand beside the stunned Captain. "The little girl you're looking at, that's your Jess."

Becker opened his mouth to protest but closed it again as he studied the little girl intently. As she smiled, he knew Cutter was right. She had the same smile as her mother but her eyes were bluer, brighter.

He watched as little Jess said something that made her mother smile before cuddling into her side. She snapped one of the biscuits in half, handing one half to her mother before carefully nibbling the half she kept for herself.

"Is Jess's mum going to be okay?" He found himself asking, studying the pallor of the older woman's face.

"She'll be fine," Cutter answered after a pause. "She's not well right now but she'll make a full recovery." He hesitated as a man entered the room and moved to sit down on Jess's other side. "Still, this is the last Christmas they had together as a family. The pressure of being so ill for so long took its toll on their marriage. I'd say they tried to make it work for their daughter's sake but that would be a lie. Her mother, Annabelle, decided life was for living and that she'd rather travel and see the world than be tied down with a husband and child. She's in Italy in your time, living with the latest in a long line of toy-boys."

Seeing the open love and adoration on Jess's face as she gazed at her parents, Becker felt something in his chest begin to ache. She hadn't mentioned anything about her parents being divorced and, although he'd read her personnel file, he'd made a concerted effort not to read too much of the personal side of it.

"So she's spending Christmas with her father this year?" He knew she had no plans to leave the country; she was joining the majority of the team in having Christmas Day off work but her name was on the list of staff to be called in in case of an anomaly-related emergency.

Cutter snorted and shook his head. "Not likely. Her father and wife number four are spending the holiday season skiing in Austria. When I said this is the last Christmas they spent as a family, it's the last one Jess spent with either of her parents. As a child, she spent most of her Christmases with her Grandparents until they died a few years back."

"Really?" Becker's frown deepened. "She's so enthusiastic about the holidays. I thought she must have big plans with her family or something."

"Or something," Cutter confirmed with a shrug. "She has fond memories of Christmas's in the past. Not a lot in the recent past, mind you, but then that's to be expected. She just knows that Christmas ordinarily makes people happy and there's nothing that girl wants more than to see those she loves happy."

As he spoke, young Jess picked up another biscuit. She snapped it again and this time, gave half to her mother and half to her father. As they took them with murmured thank you's and soft smiles, Jess beamed, obviously happy to have done something to please them both.

"She never said anything." Becker stared at the image of the happy family. "So she's going to be alone for Christmas?"

"She's used to it." Cutter shrugged again when Becker turned to glare at him. "Really, she is. She'll spend the day on the sofa watching holiday TV and wait until both of her parents are suitably drunk before dutifully calling them to wish them Merry Christmas. She thinks it's easier that way. The more they've had to drink, the less time they want to spend speaking to her on the phone."

"That's horrible." It wasn't what he wanted for Jess, no matter how much he hated the holidays himself. "Surely she could spend Christmas with Abby and Connor or Matt and Emily?"

Cutter rolled his eyes. "The lone singleton amongst the happy couples?" He sighed and shook his head when Becker just stared at him. "Don't you listen? They're planning on spending Christmas together this year. The couples, I mean. They invited Jess but she declined, knowing it'd just be the five of them. Now if you were going to be there..."

"I'm working," Becker said automatically. "And it's not like me and Jess... We're not... It's not like that with us."

"It could be. Should be, some would argue." Cutter merely smiled at him as Becker felt the tips of his ears grow hot. "You should realise that by denying yourself the chance of a potentially happy ending, you're denying the person you might potentially have it with a happy ending of their own, too."

Cutter faded away after issuing the warning, disappearing so suddenly Becker was left gaping an empty space.

The Captain opened his mouth to ask how he was supposed to leave when he felt himself being dragged backwards, falling, falling...

Falling...

* * *

Waking with a start, it took him a good five minutes to realise where he was.

On the floor of his kitchen, staring up at the ceiling.

Telling himself he'd repaint it sometime soon, Becker pushed himself up into a sitting position with a groan, a hand going to the back of his head.

Had he tripped? Slipped? Banged his head as he'd fallen?

That would explain the crazy hallucination-slash-dream he'd had of the dearly departed Professor. He shrugged but his brow furrowed as he thought of the vision he'd had, the happy Parker family Christmas that he'd been told had been their last.

Was that part real? Was Jess really spending Christmas alone or was that some twisted part of his conscience calling him out on being so down on the holidays?

Shaking himself mentally, Becker got up from the floor and started walking through to his bedroom.

"Do you really think it's over?" Definitely more amused that pitying, the voice made him spin around to face it. Standing beside the bookshelf in his living room, Doctor Sarah Page smirked at him. "You know this is going to go, Becker. You've done the past, now it's time to do the present."

An anomaly formed beside her as he could only gape, his eyes wide as he stared at her. "Sarah...?"

"The one and the only." She smiled and her expression softened. "I'd say it's good to see you but you've changed so much for the worse that it's really not." At his confused look, she shook her head. "You've closed yourself off to the rest of the world and it's taking its toll, not only on you but on those around you." Stepping towards the anomaly, she held out her hand. "Come with me and I'll show you."

Almost against his own will, Becker wordlessly took her hand, her icy fingers lacing with his as she pulled him with her through the golden gateway of light.

* * *

Loud music and flashing lights, voices raised in jovial conversations punctuated with laughter greeted them.

The bar was busy, several parties in full swing. Becker looked through the crowds and recognised several of the faces around him, realising in an instant where they were.

"The ARC Christmas Party?" He gave Sarah a quizzical look. "This is where you brought me?"

"It's the present." She shrugged a shoulder but didn't look at him, an almost envious expression flittering across her features for a fleeting moment as she took in the happy people around them. Her smile returned as her gaze fixed on Abby, Connor and Lester, sitting at a table with Emily and Matt towards the back of the room. "They look happy."

"They are." Becker felt a pang of regret, of guilt that he couldn't fighting. "Sarah..."

"It's not your fault, you know." She fixed him with an unblinking stare, the smile fading from her lips. "You blame yourself for so much you're not responsible for. What happened to me happened because it was my time. And it was my choice, Becker. To go through the anomalies, to look for Abby and Connor and Danny..." Her tone softened a little as she mentioned the missing in time team leader but neither of them made any move to acknowledge it. "It was my choice," she repeated. "And it's not one I regret, even now."

"You died. How can you not regret that?" Becker ran a hand through his hair in guilty frustration. "I should've been there. I should've been able to save you."

"You weren't meant to." Sarah shrugged when he looked at her. "You can't save everyone, Becker. That's a lesson you're going to have to learn. Not tonight, of course. Tonight's lesson is something else."

As if reminded of her role, Sarah squared her shoulders and started walking through the crowd. She ducked and weaved her way through the throngs of people – unnecessarily, Becker learned, as when he went to follow he found himself in the unnerving position of being able to literally walk through the people who got in his way.

His guide stopped when she made it to the table her former teammates were settled at, standing beside it with a smile on her face as she unashamedly eavesdropped on the conversation. Joining her, Becker frowned as he looked at the people gathered around the table and realised there was one person missing.

"She left already," Sarah informed him softly, a slight, somehow knowing smile curling the corners of her lips. What it was she thought she knew Becker didn't want to think about but it was enough to make him feel flushed. "After waiting a while for you to show up and putting up with quite a few very amorous soldiers after they'd had a couple of drinks, she decided to give up and go home."

"_Amorous_ soldiers?" His eyes narrowed immediately. "Who...?"

Sarah smirked. "Why, Captain? Does it bother you to think you're not the only one with designs on the pretty Field Coordinator?"

"I don't have designs on her! I _don't_!" Becker protested instantly and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm just looking out for her, as I would any member of the team. If someone's been bothering her..."

"Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that and maybe one day someone besides you will believe it." She rolled her eyes and looked back to the people at the table. "Now, shhh. You're here to listen and learn."

"Listen to what...?"

"I can't believe he didn't show up." Connor sighed and shook his head, his hands wrapped around a glass of some strange coloured drink. "Well, I can believe it but I thought this year would be different. I mean, we saved the world! Surely that deserves celebrating?"

"Keep your voice down, Con," Abby warned, glancing around to make sure no one else was listening to the conversation. "We don't want anyone asking questions we can't answer."

"Certainly not," Lester, only a couple of drinks away from being well and truly merry, agreed whole-heartedly. "Discretion, people! That's what we need!"

Matt shook his head, obviously amused. "I don't know why you're surprised, Connor. Becker's not the Christmas type."

"But it's a party!" Connor argued, some of his drink sloshing over the side of his glass as he hit the table emphatically. "And it's _Christmas_!"

"Christmas doesn't mean the same thing to everyone," Abby, ever the voice of reason, pointed out. "Besides, we don't know why he's so down on the holidays. He might have a perfectly good reason for it. Maybe his family didn't celebrate Christmas when he was a kid or he had a bad experience..." She broke off with a shrug.

As Connor immediately looked contrite, Becker felt a guilty knot form in his stomach. There'd been no trauma or incident that had made him stop liking Christmas. His family still celebrated and often invited him but he'd always found a way to avoid it. A lot of the time he'd been away, anyway, on missions abroad that he couldn't tell them about. Since his assignment at the ARC, he'd always volunteered to work just so he'd have an excuse to get out of it.

Christmas was just another day in his mind. It was a day he'd have to pretend everything was normal and act like he didn't know what kind of dangers – like dinosaurs and rips in time – existed in the world.

"Do you think Jess is okay?" Emily's question brought his attention back to his teammates. The Victorian perhaps wisely pushed away the half-full glass on the table in front of her. "Perhaps one of us should have gone home with her...?"

"She texted to let me know she got home okay," Abby told her quietly. "I think she just wants to be on her own."

"Seems unlikely for Jess," Lester commented with a shrug. "But what do I know?" Their boss added as he was almost completely ignored again.

Emily didn't look convinced or reassured. "She just seems so sad at times but when I ask her about it, she immediately smiles and tells me she's fine."

"She's good at pretending," Matt agreed with a shrug. "Don't think I realised how good till recently." He shrugged again when the others looked at him. "Maybe it's a Christmas thing. Like Abby said, it doesn't mean the same thing to everyone."

"But Jess is such a happy person. Or she was," Emily protested. "Surely Christmas should be a time of great joy and celebration for her?"

"She seemed to like it well enough when we lived with her." Connor glanced at Abby. "That was a good Christmas, yeah?"

A fond smile caused the corner's of Abby's mouth to curve upwards. "It was a great Christmas," she agreed. "We brought Rex home for the day and sat in our pyjamas watching Christmas telly and eating far too much."

"I would feel better if Jess had agreed to celebrate the day with us," Emily announced after a momentary silence.

"She said she has other plans," Matt reminded her, a tender look on his face as he took her hand reassuringly. "I know you're concerned, Emily, but wait till after Christmas before you start getting too worried, okay? It could just be the time of the year."

"Or it could be because Becker's an idiot," Lester piped up, downing the contents of his drink. "There's only so long a girl can wait for something to happen and be disappointed when it doesn't." He shrugged when his employees stared at him in surprise. "What? I see and hear things. I'm not completely oblivious, you know." He shook his head and rolled his eyes, getting somewhat unsteadily to his feet. "I think it's time I took my leave. Merry Christmas, all of you. Don't drink too much."

The latter part was more amusing that it should be, mostly because out of all of them, it was Lester who'd clearly consumed more than enough alcohol.

Becker only half paid attention as his boss stumbled through the crowds, muttering under his breath about the idiots getting in his way as he bumped into them. He looked at the team, then at Sarah. "Jess isn't unhappy because of me, is she?"

Even as she hesitated, Becker suspected he knew the answer.

Frowning, he thought back to the last few months and tried to remember the last time he'd seen a smile reach Jess's eyes. It was before convergence, he thought, or maybe just after, when the team had arrived back at the ARC after the giant anomaly had closed.

Was that really the last time he'd seen her smile and mean it...?

"I think we're done here," Sarah said, so softly he almost didn't hear her. "Good luck, Becker." She moved quickly, kissing his cheek in death as she had done once in life. The ghost of her touch lingered even as she disappeared before his eyes. "Let yourself be happy," her voice floated towards him from wherever she'd gone. "You do deserve to be, even if you don't believe it."

He closed his eyes against the tide of emotion rising in him and when he opened them again, he was back in his flat, staring at the bookshelf in his living room.

* * *

He tried to stay awake, knowing the story well enough to be certain of a third and final visit. When his eyelids started to droop, he reluctantly retired to the bedroom and lay down on top of the sheets.

His mobile phone sat on the bedside cabinet and he bit his lip, fighting the temptation to reach for it. How could he justify calling her when he wasn't entirely convinced that what he'd seen was real? He'd feel like an idiot if he called Jess and found she was either still out with the team and even if she wasn't, what was he supposed to say to her? 'I'm sorry for ruining your Christmas Party even if I wasn't there?'

"How about 'I'm sorry for ruining your Christmas Party by not being there'? That would be more accurate."

Sitting up abruptly, Becker stared at the woman standing at the end of his bed. "You're not dead."

"Not in this timeline." Jess – this version of it – shrugged her shoulders and clasped her hands together in front of her. "In others, I am."

Rubbing a hand over his eyes, he shook his head. "That's... not what I want to hear."

"Tough." Sounding cheerful and entirely unapologetic, Jess only shrugged again when he looked at her. "It's because of you – the you in my timeline – that I'm here," she pointed out, a little harshly to his way of thinking. "You didn't come back to the ARC," she explained softly. "So when the beetles came through the anomaly, there was no one there to get me the adrenaline. The others tried to keep me alive, of course, but my team and your team are very different and none of them were desperate enough to risk running through potentially deadly radiation to save me. Not that I blame them. That was quite stupid of you."

"Stupid?" He stared at her in shock. "It saved your life!"

"Yes, but you didn't know that and still put your own at risk." She rolled her eyes. "You have issues, Captain, but unfortunately, we don't have time to address them all now." Holding out her hand, Jess waited expectantly for him to take it. "Come on. I'm not going to bite." She arched an eyebrow and smiled when he got off the bed and walked towards her. "Well, maybe if you ask me to but that's another story."

His eyebrows shot up as their hands met. Her fingers were surprisingly warm – hot, even, when compared to the icy cool touch of the two ghosts he'd already been visited by. Instead of an anomaly forming beside or around them, his bedroom gradually faded away, replaced by a cemetery covered in a blanket of white snow.

"Where are we now?" He looked around, his brow furrowed. "Is this where you tell me how I died?"

"Something like that." It was only when she started pulling him with her through the headstones that Becker realised they were still holding hands. "The year is 2014, so we're not too far into the future." She gave him a sideways glance. "And this is your timeline, not mine. You might want to bear that in mind as we continue."

Fully expecting to be confronted with his friends and family gathered around his grave, discussing his faults and weaknesses, Becker followed her reluctantly. He knew how the story went, knew he was supposed to see how pleased everyone was that he'd died but he couldn't bring himself to believe that would really be the case.

He wasn't a bad person. He wasn't someone people would be glad to be rid of. He was...

... staring at himself, kneeling in front of a headstone in the snow.

Letting go of Jess's hand, Becker approached his future self cautiously. Even without looking at the name carved into the marble, he knew who it would be. His instincts screamed at him that it was wrong, his heart both raced and ached in his chest and he felt something inside him break...

"I'm sorry," his older self spoke to the grave, lifting a hand to trace the curve of the 'J'. "I should've been there. I should've told you..."

The older Becker hung his head, grief in his voice and on his face. A lone tear slid down his cheek, landing unnoticed on the single pink rose that had been placed next to the grave.

Glancing over his shoulder at his guide, he saw Jess wrap her arms around her middle, a look of such sorrow on her face that made him want to do anything he could to make it go away.

Turning back to the grave and his future self, Becker moved closer, needing to see the name for himself, needing to confirm what he was quickly beginning to suspect was his greatest fear.

_'In Memory of Jessica Catherine Parker,_

_17__th__ May 1991 – 25__th__ December 2012_

_Beloved Daughter and Friend.'_

"Wait, what?" Eyes wide, the breath suddenly fleeing his lungs, Becker spun to face Jess. "That's this year. That's in two days. Jess dies in two days?"

"She was heading to the cemetery, ironically," the alternate timeline's Jess shrugged. "She was feeling lonely, wanted to feel some kind of connection to someone she knew had loved her so decided to put some flowers on her grandparent's graves. She was crossing the street and a drunk driver ran through the lights. It was quick, if that's any consolation."

It wasn't. It was no consolation at all.

His chest felt tight. He felt sick and dizzy, hurt and confused and lost.

Jess was going to die.

"It's not too late." Jess walked towards him, her eyes luminous as they locked with his. "You can still change things. You put so much effort into keeping everyone else safe so they can live full and happy lives and yet it's the one thing you constantly deny yourself. And her. Is that really what you want, Becker? Do you want to be alone for the rest of your life, wondering what might have been if only you took the chance?"

"No." He didn't need to look back at his future self to be sure of the answer. "That's not what I want. I want..."

He wanted to be happy, to be loved. To have a future that was full of everything he wished for his friends.

A future that he could share with Jess.

"What can I do? How can I save her...?" He stared at her desperately. "Tell me, please."

"Why do I need to tell you what you already know?" Jess smiled at him and stepped closer, close enough that he could feel the heat of her body chase away the chill of grief. "Close your eyes. When you open them, you'll be back where you belong."

He followed her order obediently. He was surprised when he suddenly felt her lips against his, cool when he'd thought they would be as warm as the rest of her. Before he could even think about responding to the kiss, Jess was gone and he was alone in his flat, reaching for someone who had never really existed.

* * *

She'd just changed for bed when she heard the frantic knocking at the front door.

Jess hesitated, torn between going to see who it was and torn between telling herself it was a drunken reveller mistakenly believing her flat to be their own or one of their friends.

As the knocking persisted, she sighed to herself and looked down at the comfy flannel pyjamas she was wearing. Deciding she was more covered up in her PJ's than she was in most of her work clothes, she reluctantly left the bed she'd been about to crawl into to investigate the commotion.

"Jess. Jess, open up. _Damn it_, where are you?"

The voice she recognised; the desperation in it she did not.

Hurrying the rest of the way, Jess's fingers fumbled with the locks and the security chain and she threw open the door, a confused and concerned expression arranging her features. "Becker? What's going on? Is everyone okay? Are you... _Mmpf_!"

His lips were on hers before she could finish the sentence, the kiss urgent and demanding. One of his hands tangled in her hair, the other arm snaked around her waist, pulling her roughly against him and cementing her there.

Dimly, she heard the front door close with a bang as he kicked it shut but that was the last thing outside of Becker that Jess was aware of for a very, very long time.

* * *

Christmas Day 2012 came and went.

Becker swapped his shift with one of the soldier's under his command on the understanding that he was on call should there be an alert and hoped for a quiet day with no anomalies. He spent Christmas Eve with Jess, accompanied her to visit her grandparent's graves in the morning and then surprised her by driving them to Abby and Connor's flat instead of her own.

Having already agreed it with his teammates, the only one who was surprised that they'd all be spending Christmas together was Jess and, given the way she thanked him later, Becker was pretty sure she'd thought it was a good idea.

Boxing Day saw them visiting his parents, much to their pleasure and astonishment. And, while New Year's Eve saw them both working, the newly confirmed couple managed to sneak away to share a midnight kiss when the clock struck twelve, celebrating the first of many New Year's begun together.

* * *

_End._

_And that brings us to an end of the Christmas challenge. I hope you've found something enjoyable to read in this little collection of stories!  
__Thank you to everyone who's reviewed/read/favourited/followed any of my Primeval stories - it is completely and utterly appreciated xx_


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